Taroko Gorge - Tripplanning

As you know, I've booked tickets to Taipei, Taiwan in November. When I searched for the must see places in Taiwan, Taroko Gorge 太魯閣 ALWAYS comes up. So how can I miss it?

Attractions to see:

• Taroko Gorge Gateway
• Eternal Spring Shrine
• Swallow Caves
• Tunnel of Nine Turns
• Chi Hsing Beach

I found a few useful websites:

• Tripadvisor was my BEST resource for planning this trip. Not only did travelers offer their reviews of Taroko Gorge but gave really helpful tips on planning. I.e. Hiring a private taxi guide, which train to take.
• Taroko Gorge National Park website was really useful. Contains information about which trails are closed, maps and distances, trail details.
• Wikipedia For your standard brief review of history and information.
• Taiwan Tour Bus is a government initiative that lists all tour companies in the local area. Half and full days tours available from hunters. [NAff] Prices ranged from N$650 to N$988.
• Taiwan Railways Timetable. Helped with planning the timing of the trip, note that overseas visitors cannot pay for tickets online. And you can only see up to 2 months in advance. Express tickets, approx 2 hours from Taipei Main Station costs N$440/ way.
• Individual tour operators: Taiwan Holidays AU full day tour costs A$180 (N$4860). [NAff]
• Blogs also offered heaps of details and recommendations. For example, Into.Her.World gave more details of Tiffany Chang, the private taxi/tour driver as well as a full day run down. N$3000/ day. This.Boundless.World offers a review of different ways to see Taroko Gorge.
• Tiffany at +886912522118 or tiffany_935lk@yahoo.com.tw. Alternatively, you can visit her Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Tiffanytaxi.

Other useful resources:

• Lonely planet guidebook. Without fail, it's a go to for travelers, this was to make sure I didn't miss out on anything.

Not so useful resource:

• Local travel agents in Australia knew NOTHING about taiwan. Epic fail. Chinatown travel agents were better, but you better know Chinese.
• Youtube wasn't that helpful, mostly travelers posting their entire journeys with little useful information.

So given the information I found, and balancing my needs for the trip, I decided to travel by train, then go with a hired taxi (Tiffany Chang) for a one day trip. She is really prompt at replying to emails, but I was hesitate to send money via paypal for deposit. My reasons:

• Price effective for more than 2 people
• Flexible schedule
• More indepth experience
• Local knowledge
• Highly recommended by other travellers

I'll let you know how it goes!